Portable electronic devices such as handheld computing and communication devices have fragile electronic components such as circuit boards, processors, and liquid crystal display screens. While it is preferable to treat electronic devices with care, this is not possible when the electronic devices must be exposed to hostile environments or used in applications where rough treatment is unavoidable. For example, mobile computing devices are used at ports, warehouses, freezers, factories, delivery vans and airports—working all day in environments like these, mobile computing devices can get dropped, bumped, sprayed, chilled and generally abused.
There are a class of “rugged” portable electronic devices that are designed to withstand rough treatment and hostile environments. Some design approaches for a rugged electronic device include using fewer case pieces and reducing seams and seals to reduce penetration of water and dust, integrating antennas into the body of the device, increasing the space between internal components to improve shock and vibration resistance, placing display screens inside a thermoplastic elastomer boot to seal it to the device and to protect it from vibration and shock, and for devices which are operated in extremely cold conditions, including a heating element to minimize condensation. Of course, selecting durable materials also contribute to a more rugged device; the device casing can be made from an combination of ABS and polycarbonate that is resistant to stress cracking, and to surround the device with shock absorbent materials.
While efforts can be made to design and build the portable electronic device to be rugged, such devices can still be susceptible to damage due to shock and vibration. Also, shock or vibration or other motion can cause the portable electronic device that is docked in a docking cradle to become dislodged. This can cause the portable electronic device to become disconnected from the power and communications interface of the docking cradle, and worse, the portable electronic device could shake within the cradle or fall out of cradle and become damaged. Docking cradles mounted in vehicles or in other high vibration environments such as manufacturing plants are particularly of concern.